Second half comeback propels Lowell to 21-7 win at famed Hobart Brickie Bowl

A USA-365.com Special Report By Mark Smith

Team	1	2	3	4	F
Lowell (7-1, 5-1)	0	0	14	7	21
Hobart (3-5, 3-3)	0	7	0	0	7

Friday, Oct. 10, 2003, 72 degrees in Hobart

1st Q: No scoring.
2nd Q: HOBART (0-7) Marc Drobac, 5-yard run. Kyle Gonzales kick. 67-yard drive, 17 plays, 6:28 left.
3rd Q: LOWELL (7-7) Justin Henley, 62-yard punt return. Korey Kildaras kick.

LOWELL (14-7) Scott Schulz, 1-yard sweep. Korey Kildaras kick. 62 yards, 8 plays, 3:18 left.
4th Q: LOWELL (21-7) Toby Goetz, 3-yard run. Korey Kildaras kick. 43 yards drive, 9 plays. 2:56 left.

HOBART (9-10-2003) - The game is shorter than you think. Sometimes you only get the ball three or four times in a half. It can be half over before you know it.

In the first half Friday at Hobart, Lowell got four possessions and gained 47 yards. The game was half over before they knew it. No logical reason. No excuses. Hobart led 7-0 at the half and would receive the second half kickoff. The upset in the making.

"You've got to give all credit to Hobart," said coach Kirk Kennedy after his Red Devils had rallied to win 21-7 on a perfect 70-degree weather inside the tradition-rich Brickie Bowl.

"They just outplayed us in the first half. We had an attitude adjustment in the second half. Our defense came out fired up. We got a good punt return and that ignited us."

Justin Henley's 62-yard punt return tied the game at 7-7 and back-up quarterback Scott Schulz led the Red Devils on a 62-yard drive to take a 14-7 lead with 3:18 left in the third period, Schulz scoring on a bootleg run from one yard out.

Hobart, which had only five second half possessions, got a short punt and the Red Devils drove 43 yards in nine plays to ice the game with 2:56 left on a 3-yard run by Toby Goetz.

"Your job as a football player is simply to come out and give your best effort," explained Kennedy of the inevitable half-time speech. "I don't know if we made some dangerous assumptions about our opponents' abilities to play this game. But they lived up to their tradition and they fought hard tonight."

The Devils (7-1, 5-1) changed quarterbacks after Hobart's Marc Drobac scored on a five-yard run to give the Brickies a 7-0 second quarter lead. Junior Scott Schulz, who threw a key 37-yard halfback pass seven days earlier in Lowell's 22-20 victory at Munster, replaced senior Chuck Thompson, who moved into the defensive secondary.

"We needed someone to make a play," explained Kennedy. "We weren't getting anything done. We've been working in practice with both of our QBs, and tonight, we decided to give Scotty a chance. After we took him out, we played Chuck more on defense and he played some plays on the corner. He had a key block on the punt return by Henley. He made contributions in other ways."

With the relatively short roster (mid-40s), few good athletes on Lowell's team don't play.

If Schulz and Thompson can handle the switch (which may or may not be permanent) it gives the Devils more options during what they hope is a long playoff run.

Schulz, the Lowell starting safety, took his first snap and raced around end for seven yards. He scored Lowell's second TD on a one yard bootleg run with 3:18 left in the third period. Schulz (5-8, 148), one of the Devils fastest players, did not have much success passing, hitting only one of three tosses for seven yards. The Devils game total of a season-low 147 total yards and the fact that Lowell's leading passer on the night was halfback Justin Henley, indicates the QB job is still open.

"We'll decide that this week in practice," said Kennedy.

Hobart (3-5, 3-3) was able to run the ball consistently in the first half using junior runners Marc Drobac (6-0, 185) and TJ Pope (6-0, 205) behind a left side anchored by guard Paule Popovich (6-1, 275) and tackle Adam Bailey (6-4, 250).

The Brickies missed taking a 14-0 lead in the final two minutes of the first half but Kyle Gonzales' halfback pass off a double reverse barely cleared the outstretched hands of senior Mike Vode (6-3, 175) in the Lowell end zone.

Lowell's quicker run defense was overpowered by the big Brickies, who have been close in every game since a 49-7 season opening loss to undefeated Portage (8-0). In the second half, Lowell's quickness to the ball broke up the running efforts of Drobac and Pope and forced Hobart to the air where QB Tim Johnson (5-12, 20 yards) was ineffective.

Lowell got to run only 40 offensive plays to 53 for Hobart. Sophomore safety Jeff Clemens grabbed a fourth quarter interception and senior Justin Wiler recovered a second quarter fumble caused when Jim Jeffries hit Johnson while he was running the option. Lowell's defense, which has not allowed more than 21 points in any game, had four quarterback sacks. The Devils completed the road portion of the regular season with a perfect 4-0 mark.

"You always want to go into the playoffs on an upper swing," Kennedy said. "We had to fight back in the second half. Hopefully we'll have a great effort against Highland. Hopefully we'll go in playing well instead of backing in."

DEVIL NOTES: Lowell made the first Red Devil visit to Hobart since 1992.

"This is a great place," said Kennedy. "This was a great atmosphere tonight. I don't know if the atmosphere had anything to do with our attitude tonight but this was a great environment to play in tonight."

Some of Lowell's boys took pictures on the field after the game. Many were seeing the sunken 60-year-old stadium with the concrete home grandstand in Hobart's residential district for the first time. There were 300-400 Lowell followers in the crowd of nearly 2,000 sitting in the visitors stand directly under a passing railroad track. The rumbling trains literally shake the visitors' grandstand.

Lowell drew Lew Wallace (4-4) in the Sectional nine quarterfinals and will probably meet Munster (7-1) in the semifinals.

"It's always good to start the playoffs at home," said Kennedy. "We're not taking anything for granted against Lew Wallace, but if we have get to go to Munster again, that will be a great atmosphere, too."

Lowell students showed up dressed in red and black with strap on Devils horns and fake pitchforks to support the team. One light tower lost power during the second half but the game continued, although one end of the field was dimly lit. The tower power returned again slowly after about 15 minutes.

Lowell's Chris Marzotto suffered a shoulder injury but kept playing after a short time on the sidelines. His availability for the Highland game (Oct. 17) is in doubt.

2003: LOWELL (7-1, 5-1 LAC)
COACH: KIRK KENNEDY, 91-50 in 13th year at Lowell

8-22: 20-13 Crown Point (4-4)
8-29: 42-0 at Calumet (2-6)
9-5: 33-0 Griffith (4-4)
9-12: 42-7 at Morton (2-6)
9-19: 7-21 Andrean (8-0)
9-26: 53-6 Hammond (0-8)
10-3: 22-20 at Munster (7-1)
10-10: 21-7 at Hobart (3-5)
10-17: Highland (4-4)
10-24: Sectional 9 quarterfinal vs. Lew Wallace (4-4) (7 p.m.)
10-31: Sectional 9 semifinals (7 p.m.)
11-7: Sectional 9 championship game (7 p.m.)